Jeff's Journey will be a place where family and friends can come to get updates on our dad's condition and progress. We have a long road ahead of us and we hope that this blog can serve not only as a place for updates but also as a journal of strength and remembrance. We have faith in our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ and we know that through our faith and perseverance our dad will be healed. Though we have been told that the chances are slim (1 in 200,000) that our dad will walk again, we will be by his side to help him beat those odds. Our dad will make it through this challenging trial and we will be there to help him every step of the way! We love you DAD & GRANDPA!!

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Day 53 - Thursday, October 15, 2015

Jeff's blood pressure, even when taken manually, was so low this morning they didn't dare get him up. When it came time for physical therapy the medication they had given him to bring his pressure up worked a little too well and it was way to high.  They had to take steps to decrease it, like unwrapping his legs.

Needless to say, Jeff felt like poop today. We are all pretty disappointed after the last few days of feeling so much better. His legs started to spasm really bad again. You can see them actually jumping at times.
 
In physical therapy he worked on getting himself up from a laying position. He is getting stronger and stronger every day. It especially shows as he moves his body in ways that he wasn't able to even a week ago.

He also ordered his wheelchair! Details to come when more is learned about which one he chose and how long it will take to get here.

Annette got Jeff in the shower this evening all by herself. Lately the staff has been leaving most of Jeff's care to her. For example, when he gets back to the room from therapy they leave him in his wheelchair. Annette uses the sling and hoist and gets him back to bed by herself.

We are so proud of her for all that she's learned. When Jeff finally gets home there will only be small adjustments to care for him because she already knows so much.

While his original release date was for the end of October sometime, it has now been pushed back. We expect him to come home somewhere between November 4-11. We are all counting down the days.

Brandi came to visit today after work and when she learned of her dad's struggle this morning with his blood pressure she said, "I used to think of someone who is paralyzed as not being able to walk, their only problem was that they couldn't walk.  However, I now know that not being able to walk is a little problem compared to ALL of the many health problems associated with someone who is paralyzed.  In a way the health problems out weigh the issue of not being able to walk."  Jeff has always been a very healthy individual with no health problems and being paralyzed sure has opened our eyes to all the health issues that he will have to deal with.

During Brandi's visit her dad talked to her about the blog.  It's very important to him that we keep posting so that people will keep reading.  While in a perfect world we would like to keep the blog updated every day it seems that life gets in the way and most recently is making this impossible.  Brandi has been ill and not feeling well and said that "the lord blesses me to do exactly what I need to do and nothing more".  We really want everyone to continue to read the blog so Brandi agreed that she would make sure the blog is completely up to date every Sunday.  This way everyone who is reading it can know that new updates will always happen on Sundays.

Roxanne stayed the evening. She said it was a quiet night and Jeff found the tires he wants for his wheelchair.

Perry Jones is going to lay the tile tomorrow! We are very excited for this next phase of the bathroom remodel.

We are hoping tomorrow will be a better day for our dad. We are praying things start to look up again. There have been ups and downs through this entire journey so far and we are just grateful our dad's faith keeps his spirits up when the downs happen.

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